Mac Griffin's campaign works to combat public perception that he is old

RED LEAF, Ver. -- He got teased for it in his last race for governor, and it's becoming an even more urgent issue in this year's campaign.

Veroche Gov. Mac Griffin (C) is an elderly man. There's no denying it.

At age 72, he 20 years older than his NAT opponent, former Lt. Gov. Nic Marcellinos.

And Griffin's age is becoming an issue of contention on the campaign trail.

In his 2020 race for governor, then-Gov. Tom Harper (N) repeatedly tried to use Griffin's age against him. While Harper elicited some laughs and made jokes at Griffin's expense, it wasn't significant enough of an issue to derail Griffin's campaign.

But a new poll released last week by the University of Veroche found Griffin trailing Marcellinos 47.7% to 51.6%, respectively, in Griffin's bid for reelection.

One factor voters cited when asked by pollsters was Griffin's age. 

Many voters are looking for a younger governor.

So, to combat that problem, the Griffin campaign is working around the clock to change the narrative on Griffin's age.

His staff urged him to show the public he is still vigorous and lively.

His campaign manager urged the governor to attend a Lanakis Cavaliers football game, where he was photographed drinking beer and cheering until the game ended, just after 11:00 PM.

The governor specifically mentioned during a press conference -- at his advisors' insistence -- that he stays up late every Saturday night to play poker with a group of friends.

And the Griffin campaign recently released a TV ad showing him playing an X-box game with his grandsons and throwing a nerf football around with his granddaughter.

"I might be old on paper, but I am young at heart," says the smiling grandfather, in the TV ad.

"And he can keep up with the rest of us," says his teenage granddaughter Kaylee.

It's all part of the Griffin campaign's strategy to show the public that Griffin is not an old fogey, but a robust leader who still has the energy to lead the nation's fourth-most-populous state.

In a TV interview with a local Lanakis station on Thursday, Griffin told the reporter he plays golf weekly, "if I can," acknowledging that sometimes the demands of the governor's office prevent him from hitting the links. "Sometimes, it's a crazy day at work. Or we have a crisis or an emergency. If that's the case, then I am on the road to wherever I need to be. Or on the phone. Or meeting with people. And golf comes second to the people of Veroche," he said.

The Marcellinos campaign is still pushing the issue. 

A recent pro-Marcellinos TV ad that hit the airwaves this week shows the former lieutenant governor throwing a football around with his teenage son. It also shows the elder Marcellinos running a half-marathon and lifting weights.

"Nic Marcellinos is up to the job of governor. He's a father, a husband, and he'll be a governor Veroche can count on," says the narrator.

The Marcellinos campaign frequently makes jokes about Griffin's age, with a Marcellinos aide saying last week that Griffin "probably eats dinner at 4:00 in the afternoon."

Marcellinos himself has been reticent to use Griffin's age against him. The NAT nominee would much rather his surrogates and supporters attack Griffin's age instead of doing it himself.

But a Marcellinos campaign worker, who is privy to the campaign's strategies, confirmed to the GBC that the campaign has been instructed to compare and contrast Marcellinos' age and vigor with that of Griffin.

"It's definitely an issue with voters. They know it, we know it. So, we're going to use that issue to our advantage," said the campaign worker, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the campaign's inner-workings.

Griffin's team disputes the idea that his age is a liability.

"We know it's an issue, but the fact is Mac Griffin is very much alive and well. He is active. He plays pickleball, he plays softball, he hits the gym three times a week, he golfs regularly and swims. He's very active for his age. It's not like he's in a wheelchair drooling on himself. That's what they (the Marcellinos campaign) would have the public believe. But the voters know the truth and they can see right through this," said Bruce Danforth, a Griffin campaign spokesman.

In fact, the Griffin campaign actually sees the governor's age as an asset.

"Nic Marcellinos is young. He's handsome. He's photogenic. But he doesn't have the experience to be governor," Don Bartolo, a close advisor to Griffin, told the National Press Federation (NPF).

"Nic was lieutenant governor under a disastrous NAT governor. But he had a minimal role in the governor's office during those years. He mostly was just for show. He had a title and an office, but he didn't get his hands dirty doing the work of state government. He has very little experience, his resume is extraordinarily thin. And I think the voters of Veroche want a leader who knows how to lead our state, how to direct our economy, how to rebuild our state after decades of disastrous, failed NAT leadership. They don't want just a pretty face who has a nice smile but no solutions," said Bartolo.

Polls show more Verocheans trust Griffin on the economy and law and order, while a majority of voters think Marcellinos would handle health care, education and climate change better.

Some Conservatives have been panicking after the recent poll numbers showed Griffin trailing Marcellinos. But other Conservatives are urging calm.

"It's one poll. One poll shows him a little behind. And we still have two months until election day. People need to stop freaking out and panicking and put on your big boy boots and pants and get to work to re-elect Mac Griffin," said right-wing activist Katie Yung, on X, formerly Twitter.

On Friday, Marcellinos, at a campaign stop at a bookstore south of Lanakis, told reporters that age is not a main factor in most peoples' minds as they decide who to vote for.

"It's a factor, but I don't think it's a major factor. I think people care more about which candidate is going to make our society more equal, which candidate is going to give us an equal economy where everyone has a chance to succeed, which candidate is going to stop climate change, things like that," said Marcellinos.

Conservatives jumped on his comments, particularly about an "equal economy."

"Nic Marcellinos is openly advocating and calling for socialism," said Veroche Conservative Party Chairman Vance Elder. "He literally said he wants an 'equal economy,' where everyone makes the same amount of money and owns the same amount of property. That's the NAT economy. A socialist economy where everyone is equal, where government regulates everything, and where no one is actually prosperous or financially secure."

"He also thinks he can stop climate change too," said Elder, in an interview with the STAR Network. "It's truly laughable. If Nic Marcellinos can stop climate change, then he can save the world. Good luck with that."